We have arrived.

After a painfully early start to the day (I got about an hour and a half of sleep because I started packing very late), we boarded our bus and were on our way to JFK. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, and I took a little nap at the airport and a longer one on the plane, and by the time we landed, I was feeling pretty good.

We had a 5 mile van ride through Port-au-Prince to our absurdly nice hotel, the Oasis. Below are a few scenes from the drive.

A view of the outside of the airport, while waiting for our drivers. (The airport was apparently recently re-done and is actually VERY nice!)

A glimpse of the poverty situation. The hill was covered in garbage (though not as bad as some) and at the ridge line you can see the "temporary" shanty structures that have been erected.

The public transportation system (or semi-private? They're called tap-taps and they're like Ghana's tro tros) and they're all super colorful! I love them.

Some evidence of the earthquake. This building doesn't look too structurally sound...

More earthquake evidence. There was also a bunch of random rubble around. 

After about an hour (or an hour and a half?) - to go 5 miles - we arrived at our fancy shmancy hotel. I've been fortunate enough to enjoy similar luxuries before, but several people in the group were taking pictures to send home because they'd never stayed in anything as nice in the US. Here are a couple of views from my room and from the terrace/entrance level.

There's also a nice terrace bar/restaurant/lounge area. 

Buddha smiles hello to the visitors of the terrace area.

Gorgeous ponds and vegetation

Waiting around for our first venture on foot into Port-au-Prince!

We spent a couple hours wandering around near the hotel before dinner, to see the streets and get a feel for the area. We also stopped at an art gallery (sorry, no pictures allowed :/) with some incredible art. Several really cool styles... I may have to bring back samples of all of them. 

Many of the walls are graffitied in one way or another; this is some of the best.

Eglise Saint-Pierre, Petionville, Haiti. This is next to a flower garden turned tent city returned to flower garden. If you look it up on Google maps, it still shows a tent city.

Public health campaign / chlorine bleach advertisement! 

Sunset shot in a place where the tree branches crossed over the road.

On our walk, Gary (not pictured) decided to pick up a hat for Gordon who is modeling it here.

Gary also modeled it, with a bottle of Prestige, Haiti's best beer (or so they say).

And finally, Gordon being "gangsta" with the hat pulled low. 

Now, time to sleep. I am exhausted.